Changium

A lingering dry, tickling cough after a fever in a thin, thirsty patient whose tongue is red with little coat

Loss of appetite with a dry mouth and hard stools where the stomach needs moistening rather than warming

Overview. Ming dang shen is a perennial umbellifer endemic to the lower Yangtze valley of eastern China, where it grows on rocky, shaded hillsides in Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang. The thick, fleshy root is boiled briefly and dried, giving a hard, translucent, yellowish white root that looks a little like codonopsis, which explains the name. Unlike codonopsis it is not a qi tonic but a cool, moistening yin tonic for the lungs and stomach, a regional specialty herb rather than a core pharmacopoeial staple.

Clinical Notes. Reach for ming dang shen when a cough is dry, thin and lingering, particularly in the aftermath of a fever or a hot, dry season, and when the patient is thirsty and slightly restless. It sits comfortably beside bei sha shen (Glehnia), mai men dong (Ophiopogon) and yu zhu (Polygonatum) in lung-moistening formulas, and beside shi hu (Dendrobium) and bai shao (Paeonia) when the aim is to restore stomach yin and appetite after illness.

Chinese Medicine Profile. Temperature: slightly cold. Taste: sweet, slightly bitter. Channels: Lung, Spleen, Liver. Actions: Moistens the lungs and transforms phlegm; Nourishes stomach yin and harmonizes the middle; Pacifies the liver and settles rising yang; Relieves toxicity from swellings and sores.

Conservation. Wild Changium smyrnioides is under national protection in China and has declined markedly through over-harvesting and habitat loss; use cultivated material from Jiangsu, Anhui or Zhejiang.